ICC wants India in the final: Vaughan

England's former captain Michael Vaughan has made scathing comments while sharing his view on the ongoing pitch controversy at the World Cup.

Wednesday's semi-final match between hosts India and New Zealand had been due to be played on a fresh strip, but a Daily Mail report revealed yesterday that India's cricket board, the BCCI, had gone against a previous agreement with the ICC and chosen to make a late switch to a pitch already used twice in the tournament.

"A World Cup semi should be played on a fresh pitch... It's as simple as that." Vaughan wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"It is a bit of a sour taste. It doesn't sit with me that a World Cup semi-final is played on a used pitch," he was quoted as saying in Test Match Special show by Daily Mail.

"I don't think India needed to do anything. They have played the best cricket by a country mile. They shouldn't have got involved in what the surface should be.

"Let's not beat around the truth… the ICC want India in the final. They probably would've beaten New Zealand on any pitch because they're that good and so much better than most of the other teams in the tournament. It will still be a great game but the rest of the world will be like "really? Don't make it so obvious".

"We should be talking about cricket but rather than these two incredible teams we are talking about the pitch," Vaughan was further quoted as saying.

His thoughts on the pitch were shared by ex-World Cup winner and former Australia head coach Darren Lehmann who wrote on X: 'Fresh pitch for ICC events a must. Not even a question, just should happen.'